#benjamin rush

[pythiaswine]

the craziest part of some of the shit Adams wrote about Hamilton is that it was written years after his death. like get a grip, we know you hated Hamilton, but the man was semi-recently killed. 1805 and 1806 are two of the most damning letters where he's shit-talking and calling Hamilton a bastard brat, a Scottish creole, insolent coxcomb, a creature in delirium of ambition, etc etc.

[sherlockedin1776]

Doing some research on Benji for my thesis and he apparently got into this beef with a Dr. Cullen, first name unknown, and I’m just giggling so much.

Like yeah Benji go argue the pros of bloodletting to the vegetarian vampire

[chaotic-history]

Rip Benjamin Rush, you would've loved 2024 Tumblr discourse

[deadpresidents]

When did Adams and Jefferson last see each other in person?

I don't think they saw each other in person again after 1801 -- following Jefferson's election as President but before his inauguration because Adams left town before Jefferson was sworn in. Their friendship started to fall apart when Washington was President and really started to fray during the 1796 election, when Adams defeated Jefferson, which meant Jefferson ended up as Vice President under Adams because the system for electing the President and Vice President was ridiculous prior to the enactment of the 12th Amendment. The 1800 election was even nastier than 1796, and Adams retired to Massachusetts without sticking around for Jefferson's inauguration and they completely fell out of contact for over a decade.

Fellow Founding Father Benjamin Rush tried to get Adams and Jefferson to reconcile once Jefferson left office in 1809, but was unsuccessful until one of Jefferson's neighbors told him that he had visited Adams and Adams had said, "I always loved Jefferson and still love him," which led Jefferson to let Rush know that any beef that he had towards Adams was definitely squashed and that he'd respond if Adams wrote to him. Adams sent Jefferson a letter on January 1, 1812, Jefferson responded on January 21, and they restarted their remarkable correspondence and kept writing each other until they both died on the very same day, July 4, 1826, which also happened to be the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, which will always be one of the craziest coincidences in the history of human existence.

[johnadamsbignaturals]

benjamin rush was such a fucking g. like, he was anti-slavery, rejected the idea that non-white races were biologically inferior, gave lewis and clark opium for anxiety, AND he killed george washington???? king shit.

[valend]

John Adams on Alexander Hamilton again

cum letter edition

“The collected part of the semen, raised and inflamed became a dust, converted to choler, turned head upon the spinal duct, and ascended to the brain. […] What a pity it is that our Congress had not known this discovery, and that Alexander Hamiltons project of raising an Army of fifty thousand Men, ten thousand of them to be Cavalry and his projects of Sedition Laws and Alien Laws and of new Taxes to Support his army, all arose from a superabundance of secretions which he could not find Whores enough to draw off? and that the Same Vapours produced his Lyes and Slanders by which he totally destroyed his party forever and finally lost his Life in the field of honor.”

[from John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 11th November 1806]

everybody is so creative!!!!

[old-movies-stuff]

13 ghosts - 1960

Part 2

[lindahall]

Benjamin Rush – Scientist of the Day

Benjamin Rush, an American physician, was born Jan. 4, 1746, in Byberry, then 10 miles outside Philadelphia (and now within the city). 

read more...

[pitt-able]

William Pitt's sleeping habits

I always found the private Pitt much more interesting than the political Pitt and probably one of the first aspects to really capture my attention about Pitt’s private life were his sleeping habits. I find sleep to be utterly fascinating, both from a medical/biological point of view but also from a personal point of view. And while Pitt’s sleep habits were nothing unheard of, there still were some peculiarities.

Pitt often was happy to get out of London, even if only for a short time, and to enjoy some peace and quiet in the country. Holwood House was a dearly beloved retreat of his. This desire to be out of the bustling city of London also extended to Pitt’s sleeping arrangements. William Wilberforce later wrote:

In the spring of one of these years Mr. Pitt, who was remarkably fond of sleeping in the country, and would often go out of town for that purpose as late as eleven or twelve o'clock at night, slept at Wimbledon for two or three months together. It was, I believe, rather at a later period that he often used to sleep also at Mr. Robert Smith’s house at Hamstead.

A. M. Wilberforce, editor, Private Papers of William Wilberforce, T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1897, p. 49.

Wimbledon was Wilberforce’s villa – he was one of the few of Pitt’s friends at the time to actually own a house.

But a country house was not the only place where Pitt could fall asleep, far from it. Although being Prime Minister is an important and dignified position, Pitt would often fall asleep in the House of Commons itself. Richard Rush, son of Benjamin Rush, American physician, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the American Minister to the court of St. James. In his papers he retells this story of a conversation he had once during a dinner:

He [William Wilberforce] spoke of Mr Pitt. They had been at school together. He was remarkable, he said, for excelling in mathematics; there was also this peculiarity in his constitution, that he required a great deal of sleep, seldom being able to do with less than ten or eleven hours; he would often drop asleep in the House of Commons; once he had known him do so at seven in the evening and sleep until day-light.

Richard Rush, Residence at the Court of London, third Edition, Hamilton, Adams & Co, London, 1872, p. 175

We can further read in the diaries of Charles Abbot:

March 17, 1796.—Dined at Butt’s with the Solicitor-General and Lord Muncaster. Lord Muncaster was an early political friend of Mr. Pitt, and our conversation turned much upon his habits of life. Pitt transacts the business of all departments except Lord Grenville’s and Dundas’s. He requires eight or ten hours’ sleep.

Earl Stanhope, The Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. 3, John Murray, London, 1862, p. 4.

When you, for example read through Wilberforce’s diaries and journals, you will see many instances where he mentions that he either got no sleep at all or only slept very poorly. It was different with Pitt. When he was asleep, he normally could sleep on with neither internal nor external factors disturbing him. His ability to sleep on was apparently so outstanding that many of his contemporaries, Bishop Tomline and William Wilberforce for example, found it worthwhile to mention the few times that something disturbed Pitt’s sleep:

This was the only event of a public nature which I [Bishop Tomline] ever knew disturb Mr. Pitt’s rest while he continued in good health. Lord Temple’s resignation was determined upon at a late hour in the evening of the 21st, and when I went into Mr. Pitt’s bedroom the next morning he told me that he had not had a moment’s sleep.

Earl Stanhope, The Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. 1, John Murray, London, 1861, p. 158.

The context of this scene was the resignation of Lord Temple as Secretary of State shortly after accepting the office. Pitt had really wanted Temple to be Secretary of State and was rather dismayed that he had resigned so quickly.

There were indeed but two events in the public life of Mr. Pitt, which were able to disturb his sleep—the mutiny at the Nore, and the first open opposition of Mr. Wilberforce; and he himself shared largely in these painful feelings.

R. I. Wilberforce, S. Wilberforce, The Life of William Wilberforce, Vol. 2, John Murray, London, 1833, p. 71.

Pitt himself told Lord Fitzharris that there was only one event that had kept him awake at night:

Lord Fitzharris says in his note-book:��‘‘One day in November, 1805, I happened to dine with Pitt, and Trafalgar was naturally the engrossing subject of our conversation. I shall never forget the eloquent manner in which he described his conflicting feelings when roused A the night to read Collingwood’s despatches. He observed that he had been called up at various hours in his eventful life by the arrival of news of various hues; but whether good or bad, he could always lay his head on his pillow and sink into sound, sleep again. On this occasion, however, the great event announced brought with it so much to weep over as well as to rejoice at, that he could not calm his thoughts; but at length got up, though it was three in the morning.”

Earl Stanhope, The Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. 4, John Murray, London, 1862, p. 334.

The more you read about Pitt, especially in the private papers of his contemporaries and intimate friends, the more you see accounts of how often somebody mentions that he either roused him from his sleep him or found him to be still asleep/in bed. When Addington told Pitt that the Kings health was steadily mending – he was asleep. When the news of Trafalgar reached him – he was asleep. There is one letter from Admiral Nelson to Emma Hamilton. In it he describes that he had wanted to meet with William Pitt but when he arrived at his accommodation, he was told that Pitt was still asleep.

The older he got, the more sleep Pitt seemed to require and during his last illness, his ability to sleep was greatly impaired. Still, at the end of the day, his sleeping habits can be summed up by this quote from his niece Lady Hester Stanhope:

(…) for he was a good sleeper

Charles Lewis Meryon, Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope, As related by Herself in Conversations with her Physician, Volume 2, Second Edition, London, 1845, p.58.

[theworstfoundingfathers]

Who is the worst? Round 1: Benjamin Rush vs Charles Thomson

Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1746 [O.S. December 24, 1745] – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, and the founder of Dickinson College. Rush was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress. His later self-description there was: "He aimed right." He served as surgeon general of the Continental Army and became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rush criticized General George Washington in two handwritten but unsigned letters while still serving under the surgeon general. One, to Virginia Governor Patrick Henry dated October 12, 1778, quotes General Thomas Conway saying that if not for God's grace the ongoing war would have been lost by Washington and his weak counselors. Henry forwarded the letter to Washington, despite Rush's request that the criticism be conveyed orally, and Washington recognized the handwriting. Ten days later, Rush wrote to John Adams relaying complaints inside Washington's army, including about "bad bread, no order, universal disgust" and praising Conway, who had been appointed to inspector general.

Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson, a Founding Father of the United States, prepared the Journals of the Continental Congress, and his and John Hancock's names were the only two to appear on the first printing of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Thomson's service was not without its critics. James Searle, a delegate and close friend of John Adams, began a cane fight on the floor of Congress against Thomson over a claim that he was misquoted in the minutes that resulted in both men being slashed in the face. Such brawls on the floor were common, and many of them were prompted by argument over Thomson's recordings. Political disagreements prevented Thomson from getting a position in the new government created by the U.S. Constitution.

[kemetic-dreams]

[princetonarchives]

I have, perhaps, carried my bleedings somewhat farther than was absolutely necessary; but, in such cases, it is difficult to fix the point of strict necessity, and success has justified my rashness.

Princeton president Samuel Stanhope Smith, in a letter to Benjamin Rush (Class of 1760), on his personal use of bloodletting to control chronic illness, March 19, 1798

[chaotic-history]

Benjamin Rush jumping straight from tobacco can give you cancer and everyone is stupid for not realising this to sugar could never possibly be bad for your teeth and everyone is stupid for thinking this. 👍

[incidentsblog]

Page 305 of Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published in 1861. Edited by L. Maria Child for its author, Jacobs, who uses the pseudonym Linda Brent.

This is an ongoing blog. The James Norcom Family Papers are extensive, including over 900 documents, and I've barely scratched the surface. There are several documents from 1847, for instance, about Norcom's politics that I have yet to delve into. Naturally, continuing to look through these is, of course, the first next...

...step. As the development of my project from last semester to this one has shown, there are always new things to find and new clarifications to be made.

This semester, I’ve become particularly intrigued by Norcom’s connections with prominent Penn faculty members—beyond Rush and Wistar, for whom he named his sons—such as Frederick Beasley, Benjamin Smith Barton, and James Woodhouse. I would love to explore this in more depth. Additionally, the materials Norcom instructed his son to retrieve from Philadelphia may offer valuable insights into his medical ideology. Either of these would be worthy of a full-semester project.

I have also found intriguing Norcom's connections to those close to Jacobs. For instance, he was the business partner of M.E. Sawyer, the father of Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, who fathered Jacobs’ children. Additionally, Norcom served as an officer in the Society Auxiliary to the ACS alongside James Iredell Jr., the brother-in-law of James Iredell Tredwell, with whom Jacobs’ daughter stayed in New York. Norcom's pursuit of and vendetta against Jacobs may have been more personal than previously realized, and I would love to further explore these "it's-a-small-world" connections.

Norcom’s role as an advisor—and later, son-in-law—of Elizabeth Horniblow and her family is ripe with potential for exploration. Specifically, it suggests how he may have leveraged his medical degree to access enslaved individuals, acting as both executor and beneficiary of several Horniblow family wills. Reconstructing what Norcom received from this family would give insight into how and why he was able to access Jacobs and others he would later enslave.

Letter dated December 2, 1809, addressed to “Mrs. Horniblow.” Letter 14 of the James Norcom Family Papers. This letter is briefly discussed here, with further explanation of Norcom's relationship with the Horniblows provided here.

And those are just some of the many ways this semester has opened up new avenues for exploration.

To reiterate from last semester, although Rush and Wistar have been studied extensively, I believe their lecture materials, manuscripts, notes, and other documents—particularly those from 1795 to 1800, when Norcom was a student—warrant deeper exploration to reconstruct Norcom’s time at Penn. I would say the same about the materials of Barton and Woodhouse, who were professors at the time Norcom attended. While this project has focused on material from after Norcom graduated, it would be immensely valuable to re-create the conditions of his time at Penn Medical School. This would help determine the influence Penn had on Norcom’s life, especially through his education under Rush, with whom he remained close throughout his life.

Additionally, Norcom’s sons, John, Benjamin R., Caspar W., William A.B., and Henderson S., attended the University of Pennsylvania after their father. How the curriculum at Penn Medical School influenced Norcom’s sons, Benjamin R., Caspar W., and Henderson S., who also attended and graduated from the program, and how the University of Pennsylvania shaped the intellect and politics of his son John, who graduated from the collegiate department, at the time they each attended is a fruitful question for further research. As a student with limited time, I haven’t been able to fully explore the intergenerational legacy of the Norcom family at Penn. However, this long-standing connection to the University offers a fascinating opportunity to study how Penn influenced the Norcom family across generations, both academically and ideologically.

In the future, I would like to write a more in-depth comparison of Norcom’s self-portrayal—through his correspondence, actions, medical writings, and other records—with his depiction in Harriet Jacobs’s autobiography, drawing on specific passages from her work. Additionally, I hope to investigate any evidence of how the Norcom family may have reacted to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl upon its release, or how they grappled with that legacy after historian Jean Fagan Yellin revealed Jacobs to be its author.

I am also interested in further exploring the connections between Penn, Freemasonry, and slavery, as well as the relationship between Penn, Whig politics, and slavery—topics I have only begun to examine in my paper and on this blog.

All-in-all, the work on this project has only just begun. For now, I would like to extend my gratitude to anyone who has made it this far and take a moment to acknowledge the following for their invaluable help this semester and last:

Kathleen Brown

Scott Wilds

John Pollack of Kislak Center for Special Collections

Jim Duffin of the University Archives

Paul Wolff Mitchell  

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Library Company of Philadelphia

State Archives of North Carolina

James Pensabene

Ann Farnsworth-Alvear

Finally, I would like to provide, in a more traditional format, the sources I have used throughout this project here.

[alohapromisesforever]

First Principles: Freedom Can Exist Only in the Society of Knowledge. Without Learning, Men Are Incapable of Knowing Their Rights

“Freedom can exist only in the society of knowledge. Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights.” – Benjamin Rush

[siam-longings]

Case of Curvature of the Spine

Excerpt from Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (published 1793) Case of Curvature of the Spine, by Thomas Dolbeare, in a letter to Benjamin Rush, M. D. Censor of the College, and Professor of the Institutes, and of Clinical Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania. Read September 4, 1787. London 5th May, 1787. Sir, SEEING the publication from your medical society, I send…